Garment hanger and stretcher



C. J. DAHLGREN. GARMENT HANGER AND smErcHER.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. E. i919.

Patented Feb. 17, 1920.

I/WE/Vof? Charles Jfahlgren er l, 1,

ATTORNEYS CHARLES J. DAHLG-REN, OF EAST ORANGE, NEW JERSEY.

GARMENT HANGER AND STRETCHER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Feb. 17, 1920.

Application filed November 8, 1919. Serial No. 336,613.

To all whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, CHARLES J. DAHLGREN, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of East Orange, in the county of Essex and State of New Jersey, have invented a new and Improved Garment Hanger and Stretcher, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

The invention relates to garment hangers and stretchers such as shown and described in the Letters Patentlof the United States, No. 1,212,024,` granted to me on January 9, 1917.

The object of the present invention is to provide a new and improved garment hanger and stretcher arranged to readily support trousers, skirts or other garments in a very simple and effective manner.

Another object is to readily engage the garment hanger and stretcher with the lower ends of both legs of the trousers with a view to hold the same in stretched position to maintain the usual creases.

Another object is tol provide a garment hanger and stretcher which is simple and durable in construction, composed of few parts, not liable to get easily out of order.

lVith these and other objects in view, the invention consists of certain novel features of construction, as hereinafter shown and described and then specically pointed out in the claim.

A practical embodiment of the invention is represented in the accompanying drawings forming a part of this specification, in which similar characters of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the views.

' Figure 1 is a perspective view of the improved garment hanger and stretcher inl engagement with the lower ends of the legs of trousers, part of one leg being shown in section;

Fig. 2 is an enlarged sectional side elevation of the garment hanger and stretcher;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged edge view of the garment hanger and stretcher in position in the lower ends of trousers, the legs being shown in cross section;

Fig. 4 is an enlarged cross section o'f the garment hanger and stretcher on the line 4 4 of Eig. a;

Fig. 5 is a sectional perspective view of a portion of the arms with one end of the spring in disassembled position relative to the arms; and

Fig. 6 is a perspective view of the outer end of one of the arms.

The arms 10 and 11 are preferably of semi-tubular shape and are mounted to slide one on top of the other, and the said arms '10 and 11 are provided on the top with registering slots 12 and 13 and with openings 14 and 15, of which the opening 14 is spaced from the left hand end of the slot 12 of the arm 10, and the opening 15 is spaced from the right hand end of the slot 13 of the arm 11.

The outer ends of the arms 10 and 11 terminate in integral depending stretching and holding members 16 and 17, each of inverted U-shape to provide parallel arms 18 and 19 adapted to pass into the lower ends` of the legs 2O and 21 of trousers or `other garment. The outer edges of the side arms 18 and 19 are preferably serrated, as plainly shown in Figs. l, 2 and 6, so that the said edges take a firm grip on the inside of the trouser legs 20 and 21 at the front and rear creases thereof. It is understood that one side arm 18 of a stretching and holding member 16 or 17 passes into one leg of the trousers while the other arm 19 of the member 16 or 17 passes into the other leg of the trousers, as will be readily understood by reference to'Figs. 1 and 3.

In order to slide the arms 10 and 11 apart,

use is made of a spring 30, preferably made of a piece of wire formed into a coil 31 and sidearms 32 and 33 terminating in reduced portions 34, 35 provided with transversely extending heads 36, 37. The reduced portion 34 and its head 36 extend through the opening 14 and the left hand end of the slot 13 with the head 36 engaging the under side of the arm 11. The other reduced end 35 and its head 37 extend through the slot 12 and engage the opening 15, and'this head 37 likewise engages the under side of the inner arm 11, it being understood that the heads 36 and 37 hold the arms in superimposed relation with each other but allow sliding of the same one on top of the other. It is understood that the side arms 32, 33 of the spring 30 press the arms 10 and 11 in opposite directions and consequently the serrated edges of the side members 1S and 19 firmly engage the trouser legsv at the front and rear creases thus holding the trouser legs stretched at their ends and at the same time firmly attaching the garment hanger in position on the trouser legs. When the arms 10 and 11 are moved outward to their full extent then the reduced portion 34 is at the left hand end wall of the slot 18, While the reduced portion 35 is at the right hand end wall of the slot 12 thus limiting the outward sliding movement of the arms 10 and 11 one on the other. It is understood that the operator having hold of the 'side arms 32, 33 of the spring can readily move the same toward each other thus sliding the arms 10 and 11 inward one on the other to permit of readily engaging the stretching and holding members 16 and 17 with the trouser legs 2O and 2l, as above explained. As soon as the stretching and holding members are in position in the trouser legs, the operator releases the side arms 32, 33 of the spring 80 to allow the said side arms to move outward and thereby impart an outward sliding movement to the arms 10 and 11 to firmly engage the stretching and holding members 16 and 17 withthe trouser legs at the front and rear creases thereof.

Although I have shown more particularly the hanger and stretcher applied to trousers,

it is evident thatthe hanger and stretcher can be used for supporting skirts and other garments by engaging the stretching and holding members with the closed waistband of a skirt.

A hook 40 is preferably attached to the coil 31 of the spring 30 to allow of conveniently supporting the garment hanger and stretcher and the garment held thereby from a hook or other support.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent z- A garment hanger and stretcher, comprising arms slidable one on the other and provided with registering slots and openings spaced from the opposite ends of the slots, the said arms having their outer ends provided With integral depending stretching and holding members adapted to engage the garment to be supported and stretched, and a spring having its free ends extending through the said slots and engaging the said openings to exert outward pressure on the said arms.

CHARLES J. DAHLGREN. 

